Comments on: More on ‘NYC Shuts Down Muni T-Shirt Maker’

By: Joe Moore

Joe Moore — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:26:49 +0000

Correct SF Weekly link: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/09/nycs_mta_says_they_own_the_mun.php

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By: Joe Moore

Joe Moore — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:25:48 +0000

Success! The SFWeekly picked up my story (http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/09/nycs_mta_says_they_own_the_mun.php), made some phone calls to the NY MTA, and verified they “have no claim on Muni’s icons,” and “would need to look into the specifics of this case in greater detail to determine why the letter may have been sent.” In addition, the NY MTA states that the “images on Mr. Moore’s blog did not appear to show anything that would represent a trademark violation against the New York MTA.”

Thanks again everyone for your support!

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By: Pearlharbor

Pearlharbor — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:31:12 +0000

I’m the rights and repro manager at an art museum, so most of my knowledge is for scholarly images, but here’s what I know. Since NY MTA own the rights to the yellow on black design, it really depends on the fine print of the patent. It may say “we own the rights to all variations / color variations of this design” or something to that effect. If it doesn’t say that, then they can’t legally stop someone from doing that. Regarding the photographer who was selling pictures of the subway, the photographer does have to seek permission from NY MTA since he is selling the images for a profit and it is the exact image of the subway (not a variation of the logo, as 40withegg blogger was doing).
Your next step should probably be getting a lawyer (hopefully pro bono or else the charges can sky rocket) to find out the exact wording regarding the patent and copyright of this logo, and then they can draft a letter to NY MTA in response to the cease and desist request.

I’m guessing this cease and desist request is due to the fact that the MTA sells tshirts of their own and they don’t want to lose business.

Best of luck on this case! Please keep us posted.

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By: Mandy

Mandy — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:40:26 +0000

Studied copyright law in law schoo but by no means a copyright lawyer. A copyright eventually expires though. If someone actually created it its seventy years after they died, if it is unclear who created it or it was for hire than it is 95 years from their death or 120 years from its creation. It seems like the sign should not actually be copyrightable material and if it was created before 1976 I think it should have a copyright notice (that little c in the cirlce with a year). it could be that the t -shirts that the NYMTA sells are copyrighted (and wouldn’t require the notice if created after 1976). It could be a trademark issue though.

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